


UNDERWATER

by VSLDVIVI, Youknowitall



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2018-12-17 01:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11841114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSLDVIVI/pseuds/VSLDVIVI, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youknowitall/pseuds/Youknowitall
Summary: Felicity is a hacker.She is a walking conflict,proving that anyone could be botha sidekick and a hero at the same time.Will she accept an offer noone would reject?What is going to happen next?





	1. THE SCHOLARSHIP

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Youknowitall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youknowitall/gifts).



> Written for and co-written with  
> MY BFF @Youknowitall

Felicity was studying computer engineering. Dealing with that kind of stuff was her natural habitat. As a kid she was typing before she even learned how to write. She had developed exceptional skills from such an early age that no one was surprised when she had announced that she was going to MIT. And she has already found her call.

Computer engineering was the general picture, more like her cover. She was a sneaky little searcher, and a good one. A white hat hacker. She was digging through so much stuff that she ended up finding treasures even from agencies' central units. And she never acted out of her own benefit.

She found stuff for cases about victimized people. Cases David vs. Goliath type and offered whatever she could. She was the sidekick and the superhero at the same time. She was like a supporting backup team of justice of her own and all that uncredited. No one ever learnt who had provide all that crucial pieces of information in so many conflicts, but everyone was thankful to that unknown person and that is the way she preferred it. She was used to be unseen by her fellow man and she learnt to accept it. She made peace with the thought that she'd be alone and invisible for the rest of her life.

The first year was over at last and the outcome was beyond her initial expectations. She had peak performances. She was so pleased with herself and she wasn’t the only one. When the grades of the final exams were pinned on the announcement board they were accompanied with a notice from the chancellor’s office. The notice mentioned among other formal resonant procedural rambling that for the college students who had excelled in courses he was proud to announce that besides their scholarships they will be sponsored from a private fund to get the proper equipment for their major, and that was meaning that Felicity would finally get her ultimate computer she was already saving money for, for the entire year.

And that exactly was what happened. After the year graduation they attended a ceremony where each one of them received an award and a check from a business industries she had never heard before. Queen Industries. It was settled at Starling City. They probably were trying to expand their client list at NYC or get some tax-exemption or something like that. But it didn’t matter. She finally got her dream computer, built exactly as she wanted it with so many potentials. And in addition to that she had kept the money she had already saved for this purpose. She had never felt that happy as she had in this moment.

... ... ...

Felicity was sitting in her small cubicle, it was still early in the morning and nobody had come in for work, she was the first one. She would have never said it out loud but she came early because of her new baby. Yes she called her computers her babies. They were all she got and all she ever wanted. Her right hand reached out and she pressed the button for the first time and when the screen lighted on, a welcoming message popped up.

It was too good to be promo-free she thought and smiled. It was a message that offered a special law price, a cruise through the Starling City’s sea shore, not a mood killer exactly.

'Why not?' She thought, she deserved a little fun after all the exams she just went through, it might was a way to get to know some people. Maybe this time she'd be lucky to make some friends. New City, new luck. She thought and started to fill out the application. After she was finished she heard noise from the elevators coming her way and started to get some work done what mostly meant learning everything her new baby was offering.

... ... ...


	2. TAKE A DEEP BREATHE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cruise starts and the ship sails.  
> Felicity finds some help from an unexpected friend.  
> Take a deep breathe and dive.

Two weeks and sleepless nights later she was standing in front of a small cruise boat. The staff welcomed the participants, and after a quick ticket’s check she jumped on deck. The cruise manager gave safety instructions and informed them that the trip would include a brief stop at the open sea, when they would have the chance to swim or if they wish they could even explore some underwater caves. Felicity listened carefully to what was said. She wasn't going to die just because she was careless. The sun was already high up in the sky and Felicity felt her skin burn. The sunscreen she had bought extra for this trip was not helping at all. Her skin felt on fire and she suddenly wished she hadn't come. She was a nerd after all. She got rid of the thought and turned her attention back to what was being said.

Half an hour later the boat sped up, she welcomed the speed because of the wind that hit her skin and cooled her down a little bit. She took out the sunscreen from her back pack and opened the bottle. She took out some of the white lotion and started to with her arms up to her shoulders. She tried to reach her back, but “oh my…” she had to add at some point, a few stretching movements at her exercise routine, that let’s be honest didn’t exist at all.

"Need help with that?"

Felicity turned around to look at who had said that and was met with brown eyes that looked at her intently.

"Ehh. What?" Was all she managed to say?

"I could help you put some lotion on your back if you want?" The tall skinny guy said pointing a finger to the lotion in her hand.

Felicity wasn't sure what to think so she didn't and nodded instead.

The guy took the lotion out of her hand, she turned her back to him and a few seconds later she felt the cool white lotion on her skin. Soft hands followed.

After he was finished he handed her the bottle. “I’m Barry."

"Nice to meet you Barry, I'm Felicity." She said and held out her hand so he could shake it.

During the trip Felicity found out that Barry was studying biology and chemistry, he was very sweet and sympathetic and Felicity felt herself enjoy this more and more. They talked with each other until they heard the captain give the order to lower the anchor and the boat came to a halt after a while.

A boat member offered to guide them near to the point where he was claiming were the underwater caves and checked every single one of them would get the proper safety measures to prevent a possible accident from happening. She listened carefully and caught Barry a few times looking in her direction. She smiled but tried not to put too much meaning into it. She was here to dive and not to get laid.

So when Felicity’s turn came, the small built guide asked her if she was confident about her swimming skills, and she reassured him that the life jacket was not an option, no need. She only took the GPS indicator from him.

She stood there at the edge and she felt doubts building up inside her heart for the first time. She wasn’t the procrastinator type as a person and now she started to feel nervous. Weirdly tensed for no obvious reason. It wasn’t reasonable at all, she wasn’t afraid of water and she wasn’t a claustrophobic either to be afraid of getting into a cave but she couldn’t be exempted of that will consuming feeling that something was going to happen. She couldn’t define if it would be good or bad, but it made her freeze t. And out of a sudden a voice dragged her from her thoughts. "Don’t be afraid, it isn’t that cold."

"What? Which isn’t that cold?" she asked and turn her head to face of man she was talking moments before.

"The water. I mean the water. It is warm enough you can test it yourself, if you don’t trust me."

"Oh, that… yeah… thanks." She answered still not able to gather her mind.

She lowered her foot above the water surface. She just sunk her toes and yes he was right. The water temperature was great. She sat on the steps and then she finally dived into the water.

"There." The man pointed. "There… there are some caves, if you wish to explore any, after all you are the only brave one in the water." He added and smiled at her moving his eyes to indicate the rest of the cruise participants who were standing there but no one of them finally got into the water. She saw Barry watching her wide eyed but turned her gaze back to the instructor.

"Ok, Thanks. Don’t forget me and leave without me." Felicity playfully answered him and she started swimming to cover the distance between where she was and where he had pointed to.  
She got closer but it wasn’t obvious where exactly the caves were. Was what he said to her wrong? Did she understand him right? She turned her head around and she noticed that the boat wasn’t behind her anymore. The flow probably moved her and she hadn’t realized it before. She started to swim parallel to the seashore, fishes of all colors and builds were surrounding her, she had almost missed it because she was so fascinated with the beauty around her but there it was and entrance to a cave.

She approached the entrance and ...


	3. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity found an underwater entrance.  
> There is no doubt that she will dive in.  
> The big question is...  
> Will she get out of there?

A silent alarm got his attention. He lifted his head from the lathe still keeping a cone shaped metal in his hand not formed in an arrowhead yet.

His gaze shifted to the alarm panel and he was surprised to see the code of the alarm zone.

"7CAVE" Really? He questioned himself which one was it? He grabbed the alarm textbook, searching through the pages to find the section that mentions how the property was compartmentalized into zones and which zone this particular code was pointed. His point figure wanders above the different zones until… there it was. "7CAVE" the motion detector in the front entrance of the underwater cave.

His whole body tensed. No one knew about this cave. No one had a clue that this lead to an entrance for the tunnel and ended up beneath his wine cellar.

He dropped the metal he was still holding into his palm, unintentionally squeezing it so tight that his knuckles had turned white, and stormed to the tunnel.

When he reached the metal bar gate which wasn’t even locked, he grabbed just the oxygen bottle not bothering to wear any of the rest equipment and dive into the water, rushed to catch the intruder before they got anywhere near his property.

... ... ...

She had reached a point into the cave that no more space had left above the water surface she had to make a decision. She had to choose between returning to the boat, but it was too early   
for this and… She didn’t lose any more time she took a deep breath and dive.

It wasn’t long after that when she noticed the cave walls recede from the water and getting higher forming an air bubble. She was leading there when she felt trapped. Was she hooked somewhere? No. Not this. She started panicking, bubbles filled the water from her splashing the seawater, she tried to calm down by remembering how to breathe slowly. Drowning wasn’t a way to go. She had so much more to do in her life. It was that time of epiphany that made her realize that someone was behind her holding her. She tried to release herself from his grip but nothing. The only thing she managed to do after her effort was losing her last air supply from her lungs. She froze, there watching the air bubble escaping from her mouth and being diverged from her, getting with it her vital strength. At least he was swimming dragging her with him to the surface.

When they were emerged he loosed his grip on her wrist. He had placed his hand from behind and under her arm it grabbed her wrist and moving it back of her neck. When their heads were above the surface she was still stool without moving, gazing at the cave ceiling. He released her and swam placing himself opposite her. The plash that was caused of his movement made her straddle. The ripple caused from the exact same movement made the light reflected to the water surface formed captivating patterns at the cave ceiling. Only glances of their faces were discernible at this light.

"What the Fuck??? What were you thinking you asshat!? I almost drowned because you scared me to death." Breathless she made space between their bodies.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Damn right you weren't! Where the hell did you come from? You weren't on the same boat, I would have remembered you." As soon as he noticed what she had indirectly said she felt herself blush.

"I mean I would remember you because there were only students on the boat and you are clearly no student." She tried to correct herself but if it worked she didn't know.

She tilted her head to the side waiting for him to answer but he didn't, he just looked at her with something cold in his eyes and suddenly Felicity didn't feel good anymore. She could almost touch the uncertainty dangerous situation she had put herself in. What if he was a pirate or a serial killer? The eyes to the latter one he definitely had.

"I have to get back to the boat, I'm sure they already looking after me already." She but on her swimming googles and moved to the water.

"I am sorry, I can't let you go." She heard his low dangerous voice behind her.


	4. NO TRESPASSING, VIOLATORS WILL...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sign was clear:  
> "NO TRESPASSING, VIOLATORS WILL..."  
> but wait a minute,  
> there wasn't any sign, so what was he expecting from her?

Once again she felt his tight grip hooked in her hand, holding her there at a standstill and for a second time in the same day, she started panicking, for a totally different reason this time. The situation was similar, she was trapped, but this time she had full awareness that, he was the one that held her captive, not an unidentified bound as before. And she was afraid not of what was happening but of him. This unknown man, who appeared out of nowhere and threatened her. One thing was sure, he was good at it. He was so intimidating, that made her heartrate skip a beat and her breathe quicker and thicker, so much more shallow, that even if she intended to, she doubt herself if she would be able to dive again and swim back to the boat. And she was feeling to oppose to him but she has already done that and didn’t get well and now definitely was going even worse. He was so cold. His voice was low and serious. His look so determined.

He senced her body language changing. Her entire body was shivering and her eyes, this gorgeous blue eyes, widened in fear behind the swimming googles. He wanted to establish boundaries not just that, he had to but at the same time, he realized that he had crossed the line. It was not like him to be authoritative or abusive but he couldn’t afford to compromise such a delicate info an alternative entrance to his own home and especially that one, which lead straight to his lair and had his secret identity revealed.

"You are kidding, aren’t you?" she finally found the temper to ask him, uncertainty and fear sensible in her voice.

"Why…? Are you?" he asked her back

"Am I what?" she wondered

"Kidding?" he clarified.

"Then why should I…?"

"I don’t know… I’ve just thought, that you couldn’t be serious. I mean how could you? And why...?" As she kept talking, her anger was building up and she continue asking him, externalizing her inner confusion. "What have I done? That is forbidden I mean? What I have ever done to you that would make you threatening me to not letting me go away and returning to my boat, the one I am supposed to be and you know that because I have already mentioned it to you that they are expecting me. And after all who you think you are that you have the authority to prevent me for leaving? Who gave you this right? Who allowed you to pretend to be god with other people’s lives? Who the hell…"

"Wow… wow… slow down you exasperated rambler." He cut her off. It was the only way to get a chance to talk to answer at her questions. And he had the desirable result. She stopped talking.

"First thing: I’m serious, dead serious.  
Second: what you have done? You probably aren’t serious at all. You have trespassed private property.  
Third: who I think I am? I am the owner of this property, so you have invade into my house."

"What are you talking about?" she stayed stunned. His response wasn’t something she was expecting.

"What you haven’t understand? I was crystal clear, as the water we are in right now."

"Exactly that. This is my point. We are in the sea. How is it possible to be your property?"

"But it is." He answered abruptly.

"And when I trespassed? I didn’t noticed any sign that indicates I was entering into a private property, not any sign, not even a warning."

"What did you expect? A stay away guardian dog sign?" he instinctively joked.

"Look. I don’t know who you are, beside that you claim to be the owner of here, if this is even possible. I don’t even have a clue about where exactly we are. I was just enjoying my vacations you know with the cruise boat that is lying at anchor open water…"

She continued talking but he was already preoccupied enough with what he had already heard. She had no clue who he was, or where they were. She could be lying but she was so frustrated that it would be unlikely if she wouldn’t be honest. And she had a point nothing was indicating that she entered somewhere forbidden. He tried to reasoned himself. What if she prevent her from leaving? What he had to do her then? He couldn’t call the police? He had to reveal what he was accusing her of doing. That would automatically meaning that he had to lead them through the house to the wine cellar and the tunnel and promulgate that this cave lead in. and what if they decide to search the house? What then?

"Ok ok, stop, just stop. Omg your mouth is like a tommy gun keep shooting. Ok you convinced me. I’ll let you leave but with one condition."

"Accepted."

"Get serious. You haven’t even listened to it."

"Ok, don’t prickle again."

He noticed the again mention of hers and was about to fight it back, but he decided that it was time for this interaction to come to an end, it has already kept enough, so…  
"Just don’t mention anything to anyone. You haven’t seen or hear anything. Do you understand?"

... ... ...


	5. HOMO NERDUS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you get yourself in trouble  
> a fellow nerd could become your back up

It was that same moment that he let her go. As simply as that. And she done exactly what she was told. At least for now. She took a deep breath dive and never even thought about looking back. She emerged out of the cave and face the light. She felt free, relieved, she felt like she was facing the sun for the first time. She appreciated the cool breeze hitting her face lowering her temperature which had risen from she lived moments before. She swam and swam and continued swimming until she reached the boat’s steps. Finally she thought, the moment she grabbed the handle, finally she was safe.

"Finally." She heard someone frustrated exhaled like a long breath. He was the instructor.

"We waited for you, as you asked me to." He joked about it. "It is not like that I had another choice. I mean there is this guy Garry I think he introduced himself…"

"Oh, Barry you mean Barry." She interrupted him.

"Yes Barry, him I mean he is a much insisted guy. He was asking every half hour about you. I’m suspected that he even have scheduled an alarm on his cell phone to do that." He said nodding his head from side to side.

She was still shaken from what had happened back there in the cave. And what exactly had happened? She couldn’t figure out. She has to. She has to unfold the Ariadne’s thread to manage to get out of this Labyrinth. She had to make a research. The thing she do best. And for that she had to get access to her baby, her new laptop, but until then…  
She searched for Barry and there he was, standing in a corner alone gazing at the open sea mesmerized by the opalescence of the water. She was closing the distance between them when she heard an alarm sound coming from his phone. The instructor was right. He has set an alarm to remind him asking about her. He cared.

He was holding his cell phone in his hands when she approached him.

"You are a life savior Barry."

"Thanks, but I…"

"I need your phone. I didn’t get anything with me and I’m desperate."

A smirk appeared in his face. "I knew it that you are a fellow nerd." The moment he let this slipped, his face froze. "I mean, sorry, I don’t mean… to insult you. I…"

"It’s not something insulting. Don’t worry. Of course I am from the "Homo Nerdus" evolution stage. I thought it was quite obvious."

"With how you look? I mean from the distance the way you were standing far from the others at the beginning I had that hunch, not that I was stalking you before we had even met, but… I’m not a creep. But then… then when I saw you closely you are gorgeous. And beautiful people are not nerds. And that body… Omg Creepy alert. I better have to stop now before…"

"Hey… Hey… Barry, it’s ok. Thanks I guess. I mean I too ramble when I’m nervous. It has to do something with our nerd status, a trait of our tribe." She felt him relaxing at instant.

"Same tribe huh? So we could be friends or…?"

"Friends, yes." She cut him off. "Friends share..."

"So your phone…? Can I use it…?"

"Of course. Here…" he reach his hand and give it to her.

She get his phone in her hands and check for signal reception. And the data was quick. She made a mental note to ask him which internet provider he had. She activated the position at his phone at open the google maps app. Without her pc that was enough. She studied the results. And what significant this place had? She couldn’t figure out.

"Thanks a lot."

"Oh, don’t even mentioning it. After all that is what "FRIENDS" are for right?" he air quote marked the friends to make his point.

"Yeah, exactly." She responded and handed the cell phone back at him.

The moment she was back at her room, she grabbed her laptop, placed it on her lap and started. This beautiful machine. Her baby. She didn’t knew where to start from, so she made the most logic choice, the beginning. And what was that? The message had popped up in this screen about the cruise. The Queen industries. She typed some references. She left it process the search and she moved to the bathroom to take a quick shower in the meantime.

She opened the water and adjusted the temperature. After a while she had already gotten rid of her clothes, there weren’t much after all and stepped beneath the water. It was then when she realized how tensed her whole body was. She felt every muscle relaxing as the running water massaged her skin. It was like it washed over all the tense of the passing events. She enshroud a towel over her and got out. She quickly brushed her wet hair because otherwise it would be a tour de force to brush them after they dry. She was so excited to see the search’s results, that didn’t even bother to get dressed. She sloped herself at the couch and…

Eventually everything made a little more sense than before. The place that she was currently working was actually a subsidiary firm of the Queen group of industries, that had its offices placed at NYC and that’s how they had established this partnership and scholarship and fund programming with MIT. They were probably assuring the best quality technical learning for their future employees. And that’s their connection with her. But her search was like a wave that when it backed up revealed so many cells at the beach. And the next that followed so much more.  
The coordinates from where they were, from the place the cave was. This is actually a property but property of the exact same industrial group. So who was this guy who was claiming to be the owner? She shifted the search to manual handling and access the queen industries servers. There was something like an archive or a list of employees. Among other things info and economical facts and rates were photos of events and there was this guy present at almost every current event. The tag beneath them always mentioned between other names owner’s son Oliver Queen. Was he? And why he was so upset then? She had to figure out why? And to being able to accomplish that she had to return to that cave. But not now. To be honest to herself she was so pleased with her findings that she instantly relaxed and she was so tired, she let herself drifting into a sleeping state backing away to the fatigue that was claiming her body.

... ... ...


End file.
